I Will Wait
by evans516
Summary: It has been over a hundred years, with Natalie only being able to see him in her dreams. Thinking dreams were all she had left, she jumps at the opportunity to get him back with the help of some friends. Will everything work out like she expected, or were her dreams just an all too perfect delusion? KolOC
1. Back In Town

**thanks for checking out my new story, hope you like it! starting mid-season 3 :) **

_Back In Town_

Dreams were perfect, Natalie knew that much. In her dreams, she knew that she could be any place she wanted to be, with anyone that she wanted to be with. That kind of freedom didn't exist in real life, seven hundred years had taught her that. In real life, there was sadness. In real life, the people you cared about were taken away from you and there was nothing you could do about it. Right now her dreams took her to a coffee shop she had visited earlier that day.

"You can't stop thinking about me," Kol accused her. He didn't walk in and sit down across from her, he just sort of popped out of no where.

"You're awfully full of yourself," Natalie smiled at him, sipping at her coffee.

"If you weren't thinking about me, I wouldn't be here," he informed her, relaxing back in his seat and looking around for a moment. "What are we doing _here_ exactly?"

"I don't know," Natalie shrugged. "I was here earlier today and-"

"Ah," Kol cut her off with a smirk. "And, you were wishing I was there with you?"

"Again, so full of yourself," Natalie smirked back; Kol's face became serious though.

"I know what you're thinking," he warned her. "Don't even try it."

Kol was one of the things taken away from Natalie, nearly a century ago when his older brother Klaus had daggered him and kept him in a coffin. Shortly after finding out, Natalie naturally got angry, being a bit short tempered to begin with. When she managed to escape Klaus, she had found out that Klaus had gotten rid of all the coffins that held his siblings, dropped them in the ocean.

"Not like he wouldn't deserve it," Natalie shrugged.

"Nat," Kol called her affectionately, being only one of two people that got to call her that. He had always called her that, then when he was taken away from her, she found a newly turned vampire, a best friend in a way. He was allowed to call her Nat as well and she figured it was probably because she missed being called that by someone.

"I can't find him," Natalie admitted to trying and Kol shook his head. "I can't find you either."

"You're not supposed to," Kol said softly.

"Kol, I just-"

* * *

Natalie was cut off as she was awakened from her dream by her ringing cell phone. Groaning in frustration, she reached over and grabbed it, not happy when she was jolted from a dream about Kol. Seeing the name and picture on her phone, she rolled her eyes. Damon Salvatore. Even if they were supposed to be best friends, right now she found him annoying as he had woke her up. And, the last time she checked, they weren't speaking because she told him going back to Mystic Falls was a bad idea.

_"Nat?"_ Damon asked when she answered.

"Mmmm," Natalie groaned, rubbing her eyes as she sat up, surveying her hotel room. "This had better be good Damon."

_"It is,"_ he nodded, then thought about it. _"Or...isn't good exactly. Nat, I-"_

"Spit it out," she muttered. He woke her up for this?

_"I need your help with something,"_ Damon admitted. Damn, Natalie thought to herself. They might have known each other for a hundred and fifty years, but he never admitted to needing help with anything. _"Can you just get here?"_ Damon asked now. _"I'll explain everything."_

"Where's here?" Natalie asked.

_"Mystic Falls,"_ Damon told her and she rolled her eyes.

"What did I tell you about going back there?" she asked, as if to say I told you so.

_"Uh huh,"_ Damon ignored the comment. _"When can you get here?"_

"I'm not far," Natalie admitted. "I'll be there this afternoon."

_"All right,"_ he nodded. _"See you soon."_

* * *

Natalie had no idea what she was doing as she pulled up in front of the Salavatore house. Damon said that he needed her help, so that meant the sky was probably falling. Whatever it was, he had probably gotten himself into a lot of trouble. And, given that when he went back to Mystic Falls he was looking for Katherine, it was probably over that stupid girl. Pulling her dark hair out of a pony tail and letting it fall, she got out of her car and headed up to the house. When she got there, she heard the two Salvatore brothers arguing. Typical.

"I have a plan, all right?" Damon was saying to Stefan. There was another guy there, someone she had never met before.

"Hello?" Natalie got their attention, getting them all to look over as she came into the living room with them.

"Natalie?" Stefan asked Damon. "That was your big plan?"

"You're just mad you didn't think of it," Damon said.

"Uh huh," Stefan ignored it. There was something off in his behavior, Natalie had seen it in him before. He must be drinking human blood again. "Which brain were you thinking with when you invited her here?" Damon and Natalie each made a face, both tired of the constant insinuations they had gotten together.

"Do you two want to stop and tell me what the hell is going on?" Natalie asked and Damon held a one minute hand up to her, something she hated. While the Salvatore brothers continued to bicker about what their next move should be, Natalie turned to the other guy in the room.

"Hi," she told him, her tone annoyed but not at him. "I'm Natalie."

"Alaric," he greeted her. He had heard enough about Natalie, knowing that she was Damon's vampire best friend like Lexi had been to Stefan. Tired of their arguing, Natalie turned and just by waving her hand she knocked both Salvatore brothers over onto the couch, forcing them to sit there.

"Whoa," Alaric said, a bit taken aback. "How did you do that?"

"Natalie's not just a vampire," Damon explained for her, adjusting on the couch. "She's also a seven hundred year old witch." He looked at Stefan. "Which is why I called her."

Before Natalie had been turned by Kol into a vampire, she had been a powerful witch. Her sister didn't agree with her decision to become a vampire, but she could see that Natalie really was in love with Kol. Her sister did a spell to preserve Natalie's powers during her transition, making her a hybrid of her own long before Klaus ever broke his curse.

"Someone had better tell me for what," Natalie finally snapped, her temper creeping up on her.

"I'm assuming you've heard of Klaus?" Damon asked her and Natalie shifted uncomfortably. Damon never knew her history with the original family. All he knew was that when they met, some guy she was in love with recently died and she was pretty scarred over the ordeal. Being depressed over Katherine, they bonded quickly. He never pushed her to talk about her guy though, not knowing who he was.

"Uh huh," Natalie said, crossing her arms over herself. "And...?"

"And, four months ago we tried to kill him," Stefan explained bitterly. "His brother Elijah was supposed to help us, but backed out and saved his brother after the curse was broken."

"Which was stupid," Damon pointed out. "Because now he's back in a coffin."

"And what does this have to do with me?" Natalie asked in confusion. All they had told her so far was the Klaus had gotten even stronger and was now impossible to kill.

"I never put it together before," Damon told her, getting up and walking towards her. "Until I saw Elijah's ring, I realized I saw the symbol before." He grabbed her wrist and turned it over to show the charm on her bracelet. "You knew him."

"Them," Natalie corrected him, taking her hand back. "I'm not with Elijah, if that's what you thought."

"Then you were with one of the other three," Stefan said like it didn't matter. "We got all five coffins, we just need a way to kill Klaus." Natalie was shocked.

"You have _what_?" she asked. All this time, she thought the other coffins were gone.

"That's where our favorite vampire-witch hybrid comes in," Damon chimed in. "One of the coffins is locked, that's the one he's obsessed with getting back."

"Where are the coffins?" Natalie asked.

"What?" Stefan asked. "So you can get your original and run off without helping us?"

"What makes you think I even know how to kill him?" Natalie demanded of the younger Salvatore.

"I'm not the one that called you," Stefan reminded her in a smart alec way. He soon found himself thrown back against a wall, feeling like he was being strangled.

"Nat," Damon complained as she was holding her hand out and squeezing, like she had her hand around his neck. "Natalie, let him go. Hey!" He knocked into her, making her stop and Stefan fall over to the floor gasping. "Outside," Damon ordered and Natalie rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over herself and following him outside.

"What?" she snapped.

"I didn't call you in here to kill Stefan," Damon told her. "I just need your help opening that other coffin."

"Where are they?" Natalie asked.

"We just have the one now," Damon tried to explain calmly; Natalie opened her mouth to say something but he stopped her. "We did have all five, but Klaus found out where they were and we only had time to move one."

"And you think that whatever's in there will kill him?" Natalie asked with raised eye brows; Damon nodded. "Where is it?"

"I'll drive," Damon grinned, happy that she was on board. They had a bit of a falling out since he came back to Mystic Falls. She kept warning him it was a bad idea and he refused to listen to her. It was good to have her back and even better that she was going to help try to get rid of Klaus. He'd also be able to help her get her boyfriend back. Right now, it seemed like the best plan he'd had in awhile.

**what do you think? should i continue? please review! :)**


	2. The Waiting Game

**thanks so so so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites! :) really glad you liked it so far! i know it's a KolOC, but there's going to be a lot in this update with her relationship with Damon...hope you like it :) **

_The Waiting Game_

"You know I hate when you do that," Damon commented as he was driving. Natalie was curled up in the passenger seat, with her feet planted on the dashboard. She just looked over at him and smirked.

"And, yet, I always get away with it," she commented; they were quiet for a moment while she continued to observe his driving. "So...what happened?"

"What do you mean?" Damon asked casually, keeping his eyes on the road. Things were always so easy with Natalie, it was never a stand off or awkward. He had really missed her since there weren't a lot of people he could talk to.

"Did you ever get Katherine back?" Natalie asked. Even if she didn't like a girl that would come between brothers, she knew how much Damon loved her.

"Eh," Damon shrugged. "Yes and no." He saw Natalie's perplexed look out of the corner of his eye. "I found her, but not in the tomb." He shook his head. "Short version, she's still a huge bitch." Natalie just shrugged, not throwing in an I told you so.

"And...how exactly did you come across Klaus?" Natalie asked curiously. He kept himself pretty well hidden, overly paranoid about everything. She had never been able to locate him because his own witches blocked it. Who knew where he had been this entire time and what were the chances her best friend would happen to meet him?

"Again, short version," Damon said. "He needed a doppelganger to break the curse." Natalie nodded, knowing this part; she had even been around the first time when Katherine was still human. "Stefan is...was dating Elena. Klaus came, broke the curse, Elena lived, and now her blood is used to make hybrids."

"Uh huh," Natalie said cautiously, taking in that there was a new doppelganger and that the Salvatore brothers were both involved with her. "Why didn't you call me before? I could have-"

"Honestly?" Damon stopped her. "Because, I'd rather risk the other witch we know over you." He shrugged. "Now, we're just out of options."

"Aw," Natalie said with a bit of sarcasm, rubbing his shoulder. "You _love_ me."

"Shut up," Damon shook her hand off, though it was true. He would kill for Natalie and she would kill for him.

"And, um, are we going to address the elephant in the room?" Natalie asked now, raising her eye brows.

"That's no way to talk about Alaric," Damon commented with a smirk and Natalie rolled her eyes.

"I'm talking about the _you and Stefan both loving the doppelganger_ elephant," Natalie told him. "Or the _Stefan drinking human blood_ elephant." Damon turned to look at her.

"What about the _you shacking up with an original vampire for the better part of six hundred years_ elephant?" Damon asked her.

"Fine, no elephants," Natalie muttered, looking out the window now. That wasn't the end of it though, she was going to have to talk to him about Kol eventually.

"If I knew which one, I could have woke him up instead," Damon said as they reached the outskirts of town near the forest, parking the car.

"Instead of what?" Natalie asked, following his lead by getting out of the car. She very quickly saw what he had done; Elijah was there to meet them. They walked out into the field to meet him and Elijah was surprised to see her there.

"Natalie," he greeted her as she came up with Damon. "I didn't know you were in Mystic Falls." The truth was, he wasn't even sure she was still alive. After Kol had been daggered, she had nearly fallen off the face of the earth. It was probably better that way, to keep Klaus from harming her. "I take it she's here to open the coffin," Elijah observed, speaking to Damon now.

"Mhmm," Damon nodded. "We won't have a lot of time until Klaus starts looking for it." He looked the oldest Original brother over. "I assume you've thought of a distraction?" There was no way Damon was just leaving Natalie with the coffin, with Klaus out looking for it. They were going to have to keep Klaus busy while she was working.

"Klaus would like you and your brother to come over tonight for dinner," Elijah said. "To negotiate."

"Fake truce," Damon smirked. "I love it." He turned to look at Natalie. "How long do you need?"

"I'm not sure," she shrugged. "A couple hours maybe?"

"We'll keep him busy," Damon assured her. "C'mon, I'll show you where the coffin is."

* * *

"I'm going to kill Damon," Natalie muttered to herself as she observed the coffin, a grimoire sitting on top of it.

Here she was in the middle of a cave, candles lighting her surroundings. Damon had handed her the ancient spell book and had told her to go nuts. She didn't even know where to start as she leafed through the pages. Finding a sealing spell and it's reversal, she started working. The spell was working, she could feel it, the flames from the candles reaching high around her. The lid popped, like the breaking of a seal and then fell shut. Hesitantly, Natalie reached to open it. When the person inside sat up abruptly, she fell back and hit her head.

* * *

"Of course she's not answering," Stefan said to Damon as they made their way through the cave to track down Natalie. They had been trying to reach her since they had abandoned the dinner with Klaus and Elijah, Elijah having woken up the rest of his siblings. All chaos was about to break out as they were all infuriated with Klaus.

"She's in a cave," Stefan continued to point out. "She probably doesn't have any service."

"As always, you're oh so helpful," Damon said sarcastically, worried about Natalie's whereabouts. What if, during the dinner, Klaus had sent his hybrids to look for the other coffin anyway? Natalie could certainly handle herself, but that didn't keep him from worrying. When they got to the section of the caverns where he had left Natalie, she wasn't there and the coffin was open and empty.

"Maybe she just went to kill Klaus herself," Stefan said as Damon turned to leave already.

"Maybe," Damon said as they left the caverns, reaching for his phone to try her again though it seemed like a wasted effort. This time, though, she answered.

_"Hello?"_ Natalie answered, her voice groggy with sleep.

"Nat, hey," Damon said with relief. Stefan observed his brother's behavior with amusement.

"Does Elena know you're in love with another woman?" Stefan asked his brother; Natalie heard.

_"Tell your brother to bite me,"_ Natalie told Damon, rubbing her head. It got very old very quickly when people just assumed that she and Damon loved each other, that they had slept with each other at some point. They never had, their friendship way too important to risk.

"Just ignore him," Damon shook his head. "Are you all right? Where are you?" Natalie looked around the room.

_"I think I'm in your house,"_ Natalie said in confusion. She remembered who she saw when the coffin was opened, but that was it. Everything was dark after that._ "I have no idea how I got here though."_

"We'll be there soon," Damon told her.

_"All right,"_ Natalie agreed, hanging up. Hearing someone opening the door downstairs, she was a bit surprised but got out of bed to go check it out. "That was fast," she laughed as she came down the stairs, but was surprised by who was there. The girl was equally surprised to see her.

"Who are you?" the brunette girl asked her in confusion.

"Damon's friend, Natalie," she said and the girl nodded, having heard the plan to open the coffin from Damon. "You're Elena." Elena seemed confused. "Damon's told me a lot about you already."

"Oh," Elena nodded. "I, um, was actually looking for Damon?"

"He said he was on his way back," Natalie shrugged. "Should be here soon." Elena nodded as Natalie went to sit on the couch, Elena cautiously following her. "You seem like you have something you want to ask me," Natalie laughed.

"How..." Elena wasn't sure how to word it. "Are you...both?"

"My sister, Alexandra," Natalie explained; she paused, laughing at the memory. "God, she was furious with me when I told her I was going to turn." She shrugged. "And...I think she was scared. Afraid that if I didn't have my powers I would be vulnerable."

"I'd hardly describe vampires as vulnerable," Elena observed and Natalie nodded in agreement.

"Given who I was spending my time with though, I'd be the weakest out of all of them," Natalie explained. "So, she did a spell to preserve my powers when I transitioned."

"You were with the originals," Elena said and Natalie nodded. "Please, not Klaus."

"No," Natalie laughed. "He's such an ass, to say the least."

"The very least," Damon agreed as he and Stefan returned home. "But, he shouldn't be a problem much longer, thanks to Nat." He looked to her now. "Where is it?"

"It wasn't an it," Natalie tried to explain. "It's a who."

"Huh?" Damon asked in confusion.

"Coffins are for people Damon," Natalie teased him, like it should have been obvious. "Their mother was in there, the original witch." She shrugged. "I bet she's on her way over there to kill him right now."

"If there's anything left," Stefan said, taking a seat on the opposite couch. "I'm sure his siblings are about to tear him to shreds." Natalie's mouth nearly dropped open. "Oh, yeah," Stefan said like he forgot. "Elijah woke up all his siblings, there's a happy reunion going on right now."

"Don't be a dick," Damon told his younger brother. "I can take you over there Nat, if you want." She was still silent with shock. Kol was back, he was awake. After nearly a hundred and fifty years of only having him in her dreams, he was alive and well.

"Nat," Damon said, trying to get her attention. "Hello?"

"Huh?" Natalie asked, breaking out of her trance.

"Do you want me to take you over there?" Damon offered again. "To see him?"

"I can't go see him," Natalie said like it was obvious, starting to pace. Damon looked at her in confusion, looking over at Elena who shrugged. "I'm not...ready."

"Not ready?" Damon asked like it didn't make sense. She had been without him for a hundred and fifty years and now she had him back. He remembered anxiously running into the tomb to see Katherine after all that time.

"It's probably not safe over there right now anyway," Natalie shook it off, making an excuse. She was right though. The original siblings were back and angry with their brother for keeping them in coffins. Now, their mother who had also been killed by Klaus was back; he had kept her coffin sealed all that time because he was afraid she would kill her.

* * *

The next morning after spending the night in the guest room, the house was relatively quiet. She figured Stefan had gone out some where, to do what she didn't really care. Elena wasn't around, she had gone home last night. It was just her and Damon in the house. Still in her pajama pants and a tank top, Natalie made her way downstairs and found Damon sitting at the table drinking coffee.

"Want any?" he asked and she shook her head, sitting down and curling her legs up onto the chair with her, hugging her knees. "K, well you wanna tell me what's freaking you out so much?"

"Two days ago, I could only see Kol when I was sleeping," Natalie explained. "And, now, he's just back. I thought he was gone forever."

"Well, you're really lucky," Damon pointed out like it was obvious.

"What if I'm too different?" Natalie asked nervously. Damon rolled his eyes at her. Even though his best friend was a woman, he still rarely understood them.

"Well, better get over it," Damon said, dropping an envelope that was addressed to her on the table. Confused, Natalie opened it and read it. "I'd ask you to be my date, but I think there's someone else you'd rather see there."

"Damon!" Natalie complained.

"What?" Damon asked, not sure what he had done now. It wasn't his idea to have this party, he was actually afraid of Elena going there, since she had been invited as well.

"I can't go to this!" Natalie said. "I don't have anything to..." She trailed off, grinning at Damon.

"No," Damon immediately protested. "I won't Nat." He shook his head as he sipped his coffee. "I love you, but no." He hated shopping, hated it with a passion. And, more often than not, Natalie dragged him along anyway.

"I need your opinion," Natalie went on. "Because you're a guy. And I have to look really hot." She stuck out a lip. "Please."

"No," Damon shook his head. Nothing pained him more than watching her try on dress after dress after dress, just to settle on maybe one of the first few she tried on anyway.

"Please," she went on. "Please, please, please-"

"Dammit, all right," Damon gave in. "If it gets you to stop making that face."

"Thank you," Natalie smiled at him sweetly, kissing his cheek as she hopped out of her seat to go change.

* * *

Kol was getting fitted in a tux for that evening, anxious about seeing Natalie. Elijah had told him last night, after the dust had settled around the house. He explained that she was still alive after all this time, which Kol was grateful for. When he had first been awakened and found only his siblings around, he was afraid that the worst had happened. But, she was all right and had been the one to bring his mother back.

He had wanted to run to her last night, but he was nervous, maybe as nervous as she was. What if her feelings had changed, what if she was with someone else? Elijah had told him that wasn't the case, but his nerves still held true. Elijah suggested waiting to see her at the party that night; he was always one for a big, romantic scene and Kol agreed with his brother. For now, he checked his reflection in the mirror.

"Tell me how handsome I am Rebekah," he said, looking at her reflection as she sat on the couch.

"I can't be compelled Kol," Rebekah joked, but smiled at him. "She'll be thrilled to see you."

"What?" Klaus scoffed as he came home now. "His little girlfriend?" Natalie and Klaus had more than their fair share of confrontations over the centuries to make him dislike her. Ultimately though, she had been valuable to him and his family, given that she was both a witch and vampire. "Maybe if she stops rolling around with Damon Salvatore long enough to-" Klaus found himself slammed against the wall, his youngest brother grasping him by his shirt.

"Don't talk about her like that," Kol ordered, talking through his clenched teeth.

"That's enough," Esther interrupted her fighting sons and Kol released his brother. She wasn't thrilled that there was a witch-vampire out there, but she was grateful that she had been able to open her coffin. "I won't have this kind of fighting between all of you, especially tonight at the party. Is that understood?"

* * *

"Stop it," Damon scolded Natalie. She was bouncing nervously, wringing her hands in anticipation. They had just got there and hadn't seen any of the originals yet. Stefan was there and Damon prayed he stayed away and didn't make some smart ass comment; Natalie might just kill him in the middle of the event she was so on edge.

"Do I look ok?" Natalie asked anxiously. Damon had convinced her to go with a dress the same shade of dark blue as her eyes. It was strapless and fitted in the top, flowing out gently into a long skirt. The dress was deep blue, but had a sheer black lace pattern over it. It was one out of twenty she had tried on that day.

"Gorgeous," Damon told her as she kept looking over her shoulder; nothing yet. "Hey, look at me."

"Damon, I-" She was cut off as Damon took her face in his hands and forced her to look at him.

"You look fantastic," Damon told her. "Though, I hardly think he's going to care." On the opposite side of the room, Kol was observing her. Why couldn't he just go talk to her? Then again, what do you say to someone after a hundred and fifty years?

"Adorable," Klaus commented to Kol. "Aren't they?" Damon had moved his hands to Natalie's shoulders and kept reassuring her that everything was fine, even telling her that she was crazy.

"Shut up Nik," Kol muttered, working up the nerve to go over there. There weren't many things that intimidated the original vampire, but this was one of those things. Coming up behind Natalie, Damon noticed him first, nodding his head and getting Natalie to look. Neither of them said anything at first.

"Well, neither of you need me here," Damon mused, patting Natalie's back reassuringly. "I'll talk to you later Nat." As Damon went to walk by Kol, he grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Thank you," Kol told him. "I know you're the one that's been taking care of her."

"More like she's saved my ass over and over," Damon commented with a slight smile, walking away. Behind Kol's back, he gave Natalie a thumbs up and she shook her head at him, fighting off a laugh.

"Um," Natalie laughed a little. "I...don't really know what to say."

"Me either," Kol confessed with a slight smile as he looked her over. "You..." He was speechless. "You're even more stunning than I remember."

"Oh," Natalie blushed. "Um...thank you." She bit her lip. "So are you." Kol kept smiling at her. "I've missed you." They could hear Klaus talking to the other two brothers about how Kol was pathetic with her, that they were ridiculous and love sick. As he sipped on his champagne though, he started to choke and cough, eventually spitting up blood into his glass. Kol turned to look back at Natalie after seeing what happened to his brother.

"I always loved that," Kol laughed and Natalie smiled. "I have to go make an announcement with my family, to start the party officially." Natalie nodded in understanding. "After though, I'd like very much to dance with you."

"Absolutely," Natalie agreed; he took her hand and kissed it, making her feel like she was on fire. Kol went to join his family at the bottom of the staircase as they all started to walk up for the announcement.

"That was it?" Klaus commented to Kol, none to happy about Natalie's stunt with his champagne. "A hundred and fifty years and you just kiss her hand?" Kol was going to say something but Klaus lost his footing and slipped on the stairs, falling right over. There were a few quiet laughs, nothing too much but Klaus got up red faced, a mix of embarrassment and anger as he glared over at Natalie. She smiled at him sweetly, giving a small wave.

"I think I like her," Finn told Kol quietly in reference to Natalie's antics as Elijah started talking to the crowd of people at the party.

"She's amazing," Kol agreed softly.

**thanks for reading! really hope that you liked it, i got such a great response after the first chapter! please review! :)**


	3. Changes

**thanks so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites! :) and thanks to those who followed me! i'm so excited for this story, so i'm so glad you're enjoying it! more kol/natalie in this as well as damon/natalie drama, hope you like it :) **

_Changes_

Shortly after the Mikaelson family spoke on the staircase, everyone broke off into pairs for dancing. Natalie smiled as Kol met her at the bottom of the stairs, leading her off to dance. It was like a moment out of the fairy tales that she never believed in. Right now, that was the best way she could describe it though. She noticed Damon with Elena, but neither of them seemed happy. Kol's sister Rebekah was with someone, Klaus was with a pretty blonde girl. She didn't think of any of the others though, just that she got to be there with Kol after all these years.

"What happened?" Kol asked Natalie. "Where did you go?" The last time they were together was when his family was in New Orleans; Natalie sighed.

"I might have gotten into a fight with your brother," Natalie admitted hesitantly, knowing that he wasn't going to be happy. Just like she expected, his face reflected concern.

"I wish you wouldn't have done that," Kol told her. It was fine for her and Klaus to bicker back and forth like they did, and he always found it highly amusing when Natalie would pull stunts like she did with the stairs. But Natalie and Klaus coming to blows was a completely different story.

"Well, you're a couple decades late on the lecture," Natalie teased him and he gave her a _look_, but he gave a half smile, his hand rubbing her lower back. "Anyway, I went north for awhile. I knew your family had lived in Virginia once and I wanted to see it."

"And, is that where you met him?" Kol asked, looking briefly over towards Damon who was now having a visible yet inaudible argument with Elena.

"Mhmm," Natalie nodded, observing his reaction. He was trying to hide that he wasn't thrilled about her relationship with Damon, but he was bad at doing so. "And, _no_," Natalie said as if she could read his mind with a bit of a laugh. "He's my best friend, and that's all." That was all she needed, was for Kol to think she was seeing Damon while he was locked away in a box. With Kol's jealous streak, he would probably try to kill him.

"I'm happy you had someone," Kol said, though he was still a bit wary of Damon. Natalie wanted to say something, but it came to the point in the dance where everyone switched partners.

"What's that face?" Damon asked as Natalie was spun into him, starting to dance with her now.

"This stupid dance," Natalie muttered. "Who waltzes anymore?" Damon snorted.

"Wouldn't have anything to do with interrupting you and your guy," Damon teased her and she shrugged. "How is it so far?"

"Good," Natalie nodded. "I don't know, it's just like...what do you say to someone you have seen in a century and a half?"

"I wouldn't say much of anything," Damon commented, winking at her suggestively.

"Oh come on," Natalie laughed at him. "Stop it."

"All I'm saying is," Damon continued. "I don't want to see you at home tonight."

"Yeah, yeah," Natalie shook her head at him. "What about you and Elena?"

"It was stupid, don't worry about it," Damon muttered and Natalie made an involuntary face. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Natalie asked innocently, not realizing what she had done.

"That face."

"I didn't make a face," she protested.

"Nat, I've known you forever," Damon reminded her. "And you had a face." Natalie rolled her eyes. "What is it?"

"I just think you need to quit while you're ahead," Natalie pointed out and Damon looked confused.

"What does that mean?" Damon asked, seeming annoyed which wasn't what Natalie intended.

"I mean," Natalie said cautiously, not wanting to make him mad. "That...you and your brother keep getting involved with these girls and it never goes well."

"So, you get your happy ending but I don't?" Damon asked her. It wasn't just Natalie saying that he should be having feelings for Elena. Time and again he and Stefan were having this argument. And now, tonight, Elena was telling him how his feelings were getting in the way of their plan, just because he didn't want her alone with Esther. He was just snapping at Natalie when she didn't really deserve it.

"I don't think that's what I said at all," Natalie said, feeling a bit defensive, the music and the dance ending. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I'll remember that," Damon muttered as he let her go.

"Damon," Natalie protested as he walked off. Feeling someone's hand on her waist, she turned to see Kol there giving her a concerned look.

"Everything all right love?" Kol asked her.

"I have no idea," Natalie answered honestly, not sure what just happened.

One second she and Damon were joking about Kol, the next he was angry because she told him something was off about his relationship with Elena. It was just like the fight over him going back to Mystic Falls all over again. She told him her opinion on something, which was different than what he thought, and he got mad at her for it. She thought he was ridiculous, but then again, she was equally as hot headed and stubborn; it was part of why they were friends, they understood it. She only hoped it wouldn't be months before he forgave her again.

"Do you want to get a drink?" Kol asked her. He seemed hesitant, probably because he feared she'd rather chase after Damon and fix their fight. That wasn't the case at all though. After all this time, Natalie knew who she needed to prioritize her time with.

"Yes," Natalie smiled at him. "Absolutely."

* * *

Awhile later, it was just Natalie and Rebekah as Kol had gotten cornered by the mayor. He didn't want to leave Natalie's side once, but they all had to their fair share of mingling. While he was on the opposite end of the room, he kept catching her eye and smiling at her, making her smile back but blush as well. It was amazing how, after all this time, he could still have that butterfly in the stomach effect on her.

"Hello," Rebekah teased her as she caught Natalie making eyes at Kol again. "I'm the one that's here with you."

"Sorry," Natalie giggled.

She had always liked Rebekah and Rebekah liked her back. After all, Rebekah had been in love time and again. While she envied what her brother got to have and what she could never seem to keep a hold of, she was glad that he was so happy. There was one thing Rebekah didn't like though, it was that Natalie was able to keep her powers as a witch when she turned. With her mother being a witch, Rebekah should have been one as well but she never got to keep her abilities.

"When did you get to Mystic Falls?" Rebekah asked curiously.

"Just before...you all did," Natalie said, not sure how to phrase it. They had been there awhile, but they were just now awake; she wanted to change the subject. "So," Natalie smiled. "Who's the guy you brought?"

"Matt," Rebekah answered, sipping her champagne.

"Do you like him?" Natalie asked.

"I was actually going to kill him," Rebekah answered with a slight smile.

"You have a weird way of showing affection," Natalie said with a laugh, drinking her champagne now.

"He's friends with Elena, I hate Elena," Rebekah shrugged. "You do the math." Natalie looked at her curiously.

"Why do you hate Elena?" Natalie asked. She didn't think it was ok for Damon and Stefan to be falling for the same girl, fighting over her just like they had for Katherine. But, Elena had been nothing but nice to Natalie. Maybe it was just a case of nice girl caught in a bad situation.

"Oh, I guess your friends the Salvatores didn't tell you," Rebekah said with an eye roll. "Makes sense. Anyway, she was very nice to me, acted like we could be friends. But that was just to get information about my family. After she got what she wanted, she actually stabbed me in the back." She finished her drink. "That's why I was daggered, not because of Nik."

"Are you serious?" Natalie asked, completely surprised. The girl she talked to in the living room the previous day didn't seem capable of hurting a fly. And Rebekah was telling her that she was the one responsible for daggering one of the originals?

"She got Elijah once before too," Rebekah nodded, looking Natalie's reaction over. "I'd be careful if I were you. The second they don't need you for one of their little plans, it'll be a stake for you."

"No body is getting staked," Kol said as he came up behind Natalie, slipping an arm around her. "What's going on here?"

"Just telling Natalie about my plans to torment Elena," Rebekah told him, smiling at her older brother. "Want to help?"

"Help my baby sister in terrorizing the locals," Kol said, like it was a terrible idea. Then, he smiled at her. "How can I help?"

"I'm not going to be a part of this," Natalie laughed, slipping out of Kol's grasp.

"Oh come on," Kol protested, though his smile never left his face. "Aren't you even a little hungry?"

"Starving actually," Natalie agreed. "But your mother hates me enough already without me ruining her party."

"My mother doesn't hate you," Kol said like she was ridiculous; Esther hadn't even met her yet.

"I saw how she was looking at me during your announcement," Natalie said. "She knows what I am, and that pisses most witches off." She gave him a half smile. "Go...bond with your sister or whatever you want to call it. I'll be all right here."

"Are you sure?" Kol asked her politely, not wanting to abandon her.

"I think I'll be ok," she promised. "And, really, you've been back a day and you haven't killed anyone yet."

"You know me so well," Kol laughed, kissing her cheek quickly. "I'll be back soon."

"Have...fun," Natalie said, laughing a bit at the fun part as Kol went off with his sister. She turned for a moment, turning back and jumping as someone was right behind her. "Shit," she muttered to herself. "Klaus, what the hell?"

"I need to talk to you," Klaus told her, pulling her off to a side room.

"One," Natalie said, removing Klaus's hand from her arm without touching him. "Don't touch me. And, two." She smirked at him. "Shouldn't you be chasing after some uninterested blonde?"

"Do you know what the others are planning?" Klaus asked her.

"Ok, again, one," Natalie said, getting ready to list. "If I did, I probably wouldn't tell you."

"You have Kol back," Klaus stopped her. "What else do you want from me?" Natalie rolled her eyes, continuing.

"Two," she went on. "You're actually worried about Stefan and Damon? Two century old vampires who can't pull their heads out of their asses over some stupid girl?" She shook her head. "Besides, you have your entire family back. Despite everything you do to them, they're sticking around so..." She shrugged. "Get over yourself, and leave me alone."

"Like me or not, you're in this family too," Klaus reminded her. It was true. For six hundred years she was a Mikaelson, traveling and making homes with them all over the world.

"And I won't let anything break it," Natalie told him, getting ready to leave. Fighting with Damon, making peace with Klaus. What was going on tonight? Kol coming back into her life had turned everything upside down; but, the way she saw it, she'd rather have him here than be without him for another century. As she was walking back towards the party, she found Damon.

"Damon, hey," Natalie said, stopping him and hoping for a truce. "Can we talk a second?"

"Yeah, just after I track down the stupid girl," Damon told her, letting her know that he heard everything she said as he walked off. Natalie sighed as he left, feeling Klaus catching up to her.

"Can't have everything sweetheart," Klaus mused, making her roll her eyes; maybe he was right though. Spotting Kol as she got back to the party, she smiled as she walked over to him and he was holding two glasses of champagne.

"My mother's going to make a toast," Kol said as he handed her a glass; Natalie noticed Rebekah was with Matt.

"I thought..." She started to say but Kol shook his head, rolling his eyes.

"Rebekah backed out last second," he said in annoyance.

"Could always have fun without her," Natalie told him.

"You're a bad influence," Kol teased her as the toast started.

Esther was going on about how she missed her family, how she wanted them to be whole again. As nice as she was being and as amazing as this party was, Natalie still felt uncomfortable in her presence and even worse when Esther was looking at her. Maybe it was all in her head, that she was just being paranoid. When she drank the champagne after the toast though, something didn't seem right.

"Are you all right?" Kol laughed a little, seeing her make a disgusted face.

"Oh...yeah," Natalie shook her head, not able to place it and not wanting to stress this night out any further. "Tell you what," she said, setting her glass to the side. "Why don't you go get whatever it is out of your system and um..." She bit her lip, a bit nervous for this part. After all, they had only been back together for a total of three hours. They had only kissed on the cheek.

"I'll meet you upstairs," she told him, a smile creeping on her face.

"I won't be long at all," Kol told her with a smirk, still starving from before.

He went out onto the balcony, finding Rebekah's date outside. Kol started to shake hands with him, but tightened his grip, making Matt wince in pain. That was when Damon came out to stop him, knocking Kol off the balcony to give Matt a chance to get away. That should have been the end of it. But, given that he was angry with both Elena and Natalie that night, Damon took things one step too far. He jumped off the balcony, continuing to fight with Kol in front of the house before eventually breaking the original's neck.

"Damon!" Stefan shouted. He was outside now with Elena, Esther, and Kol's siblings. Able to hear all the fighting, Natalie ran outside, her mouth dropping open at the sight.

"What's the matter with you?" Natalie demanded from him, marching off the steps towards him. He just turned to walk off from her. "Is this how it is with us now!" There was still nothing but silence from him.

* * *

Kol gasped as he woke up that night, coming back from his broken neck. He woke up in what he recognized as his new room, still dressed from the party. Looking around, he immediately spotted Natalie who was sitting by him on the edge of the bed, looking worried but she smiled when he woke up. It all very quickly came back to him.

"I'm going to kill him," Kol said first, getting off of the bed. He was absolutely infuriated, not just with what Damon had done to him but how he had been treating Natalie that night. Natalie sped over from the door, standing between him and the closed door.

"Please don't," Natalie told him, not that she didn't want to take Damon's head off. "Just...not tonight. I don't want anything else to ruin tonight."

"It was never ruined," Kol said back, taking her face in his hands. "I got you back." She bit her lip as she smiled at him, melting on the inside. He was perfect, they were perfect. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said, before she finally went for it, kissing him.

**thanks for reading! really hope you liked it...i know a lot happened/changed but please let me know what you thought and review! :)**


	4. Unexpected Enemy

**thanks so much for the reviews, favorite, and follows! and thanks to those who followed/favorited me! it means a lot to me. really hope you like this update! :) **

_Unexpected Enemy _

Natalie woke up on her own late the next morning, starving. Looking over next to her, she saw Kol fast asleep with his arm outstretched where he had been holding her. Quietly slipping out of bed, Natalie snuck down the hall to Rebekah's room to borrow some clothes, since all of her things were still at the Salvatore house; she settled on dark skinny jeans and a deep green sweater. Natalie was a little surprised to see Rebekah's room was empty, but figured she was probably already awake. Heading downstairs to see what they had in the refrigerator, she jumped when she felt someone grabbing her around her waist.

"Kol!" she giggled as he pressed her back against the door frame between the foyer and the sitting room.

"Why did you leave?" Kol smirked against her lips, unable to stop kissing her, up now and dressed almost as soon as she got out of bed.

"I'm star_ving_!" Natalie said, the second part of the word coming out as a squeal as Kol picked her up and ran them over to the couch, dropping her on it before holding himself over her.

"I could get you breakfast in bed," he told her, kissing her again.

"We'd have to leave sometime," Natalie giggled, feeling the soft material of his sweater as she ran her hands over his chest.

"Mhmm," Kol shook his head, kissing her more and she didn't bother talking again.

"You two know you have a bedroom for that," Klaus said as he came into the room, grabbing his sketch pad from the opposite couch and sitting down. "Though the walls aren't sound proof," Klaus pointed out, a bit annoyed as they broke apart and were sitting up. Natalie snorted a laugh as Kol put an arm around her shoulders, sitting on the couch with her.

"Just ignore him," Kol told Natalie. "He's just angry he couldn't get Caroline to stay here last night."

"The blonde girl?" Natalie asked as she relaxed back, laying against Kol's chest. Klaus was just ignoring them, focusing on the page in his sketchbook. Not that it mattered, because Rebekah got home next, still in her dress from the party, leading to plenty of torment from Kol.

"Be nice," Natalie said as Kol got up, questioning Rebekah about where she had been and who she was with. He seemed to get a lot of joy out of it. "C'mon, let her alone," Natalie laughed, pulling him back onto the couch with her.

"You should listen to her more," Rebekah said as she went upstairs to change; Kol ignored his sister, looking to Natalie..

"What are we doing today?" he asked her.

"Well," Natalie said, getting up from the couch. "_I_ was going to get my things from Damon's house."

"I could go with you," Kol offered.

"And then you'll kill Damon," Natalie pointed out.

"So what," Kol smirked at her.

"So I'd rather you didn't," she giggled, leaning over to kiss him once before going to leave.

"Stay," Kol told her, catching her hand and giving her his best puppy eyes.

"No!" Natalie laughed, taking her hand away. "Spend time with your brother," she suggested.

"He's just going to sit and draw all day," Kol muttered; Klaus was still ignoring them, sketching away. "Pining over that girl." Natalie turned and flipped her hand up, which sent Klaus's sketch book up and smacking him in the face. He looked up and glared at her.

"Play nice," Natalie grinned before speeding out of the room, not letting herself get caught up in a confrontation right now. Klaus turned and looked to his brother who was stifling a laugh.

"She's a pain in the ass," Klaus commented, getting up and grabbing his jacket as he decided to spend the day with his younger brother.

"Part of why I like her," Kol smirked, following his brother out the door.

* * *

Natalie drove up to the Salvatore boarding house, seeing that both Damon and Stefan were home. Walking up to the front porch, she found her bags to already be sitting outside. Natalie rolled her eyes at Damon's maturity, figuring he was still mad at her for last night. They hadn't heard her come up to the house, they must not have or they wouldn't have been talking about their plan right now.

_"Don't you think it's too soon to be celebrating?"_ Stefan was asking Damon.

_"Look, it's like Elena said,"_ Damon went on. _"Esther linked her kids last night during the toast. Bonnie and Abby are going to help her kill Finn tonight."_ He shrugged. _"Then, that's it. We're done with Klaus and his family forever."_

_"Natalie's not going to forgive you,"_ Stefan pointed out. She didn't stay to listen anymore, she went to leave and warn the others. As she turned to leave though, she ran right into Elijah.

"Elijah-"

"I know," Elijah assured her, after all that was why he was here. He had been with Elena that morning and she had confessed the plan to him. He then left her with Rebekah while he went to find the Salvatore brothers. "Come inside," Elijah invited her, though she was already two steps ahead of him, walking into the house. Hearing her enter, Stefan and Damon both looked over before getting tossed to the other side of the room like rag dolls. They had barely hit the floor before they felt themselves being picked up, this time to be tossed through the windows, falling onto the terrace with glass shattering all around them.

"Natalie, don't," Elijah stopped her from going outside. "We need them."

"For what?" Natalie snapped. Damon and Stefan were slowly starting to get up, coughing, even spitting out some blood.

"Nat," Damon said as they stepped back inside. Without a response, he found himself slammed against the bookcase.

"Natalie!" Elijah shouted at her, grabbing her by her shoulders to get her to stop.

"You heard what they're going to do!" Natalie shouted back, pushing him off of her. A day. She had barely had Kol back for an entire day and his life was almost over again, this time permanently. And Damon was helping. Her head was spinning.

"They're the ones that are going to have to stop it," Elijah explained, trying to get her to calm down. That was one thing he remembered about her during the six hundred years she spent with his family. Her anger was explosive, rivaling the rage his two youngest brothers could show. "There is no way we're going to be able to get near the witches, not without causing alarm. They're going to have to stop my mother from channeling Bonnie and her mother."

"What do you want us to do, kill them?" Damon asked, finally dragging himself to his feet after his body started to heal. Natalie whipped around, glaring him. Thankfully for Damon, it took more than a look to kill him.

"It's them or Elena," Elijah warned him. "Because, right now, she's with Rebekah." He looked over to Natalie who was still fuming. "Not that I'd expect you to last too long yourselves, with Natalie's temper."

"I'm out of here," Natalie announced, storming off.

"Nat," Damon said as he went after her, though he knew it was stupid. When she turned around, he was met with a smack across the face.

"Don't make me hurt you Damon," Natalie said to him, which was the second thing to come to her mind. The first thing she wanted to say but stopped herself from saying was that she hated him.

* * *

"There is no way," Kol was adamantly protesting. He was back at the house now with Elijah and Klaus, after Natalie had gone to get them from the grille. Elijah and Natalie told them what happened, how the original siblings were now linked together and that Esther was planning to kill Finn that night. She had also detailed a plan that she had to keep them from dying.

"Absolutely not," Kol continued.

"If you don't let me try, you're all going to die," Natalie argued back. She couldn't block Esther from using the Bennett's magic, so she was going to do the next best thing. Esther couldn't access the dead witches magic without any living magic as well; she was going to take Bonnie and Abby's powers.

"I hate to agree with Natalie on something, but she's right," Klaus said.

"I thought that was what we had Damon for," Kol continued, looking to Elijah for help. Surely his oldest brother would take his side, but the expression on his face showed that he wasn't about to.

"Damon and Stefan have had several hours," Elijah tried to reason with Kol. "They haven't done anything-"

"I know them," Natalie interrupted. "They're looking for a loophole, trying to keep Elena and her friend safe. They're not going to care about what the risk is for you."

"And what about the risk for you?" Kol snapped at her. "My mother is going to be able to sense you, what's going to stop her from killing you right there?"

"Us," Klaus offered and Natalie looked over at him.

"Aw, I didn't know you cared," she said sarcastically.

"Mostly about self preservation love," he replied. "But, if we're there, mother won't be paying attention to where Natalie is." Natalie looked to Kol now.

"It's worth the risk to me," Natalie told him.

"I don't like this," Kol told her.

"Well, lucky for us, no one asked you to," Klaus said, earning a punch from his brother.

* * *

The conversation in the Mikaelson house was the last thing Natalie remembered. She woke up in the room she was sharing with Kol at the mansion, covered up under a blanket in her night clothes. Looking over to the other side of the bed, she saw Kol sitting up on top of the blankets, reading something and not really paying attention. She figured she must have blacked out and he was waiting for her wake up.

"Ahem," Natalie said playfully, getting him to look.

"Hey!" Kol said quickly, happy that she was awake. He leaned over to kiss her, adjusting so he was laying next to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted," Natalie yawned, her body still feeling weak. "What day is it?"

"Monday," Kol answered her.

"Oh," Natalie shrugged, since it had been Sunday when Esther was planning to kill her children. That wasn't too long. She had blacked out from using too much magic before for a couple days.

"Um," Kol hesitated. "It's actually the following Monday."

"Damn," Natalie commented and he nodded in agreement.

"I was worried about you," Kol told her, as she expected. He worried for her too much.

"Well, at least it worked," Natalie told him. "Or...I think it did?" Kol nodded.

"Damon's been trying to call you," Kol explained, nodding over at her phone that was on the night stand. "No one seems to be too happy that their resident witch doesn't have her magic anymore."

"Well, then she shouldn't have picked the wrong side," Natalie shrugged.

The longer she was up, the more she remembered. She remembered sneaking into the house where Abby and Bonnie were hiding while Klaus, Kol, and Elijah were talking with their mother and Finn. She remembered starting the spell for taking their powers and meeting resistance from the spirits in the house of their ancestors. That was probably what caused her to overuse her magic and black out in the first place. As she was remembering this, the door to their room swung open.

"Good, you're awake," Klaus said, standing in the doorway.

"Not now Nik," Kol shook his head, sitting up now. Natalie sat up slowly, still feeling weak. "She still needs to rest."

"Well, sadly little brother we're out of time," Klaus said unsympathetically. "The Salvatores have the white oak stakes so-"

"Wait, _what_?" Natalie interrupted.

"That's what happens when you take a week long timeout sweetheart," Klaus told her. "You miss out on things." Natalie rolled her eyes. "Anyway, we're all still linked. Which means they only have to kill one of us."

"You should probably find Finn and lock him up before he volunteers," Natalie said.

"Oh, well there was an even worse punishment," Klaus told her, a grin hinting on his face. "I've left him with Sage, hoping she can talk him out of his suicidal ways. But..." He looked to Natalie. "I'd rather not risk that. So..." He waved a hand at her. "Get ready and I'll meet you downstairs."

"Just give me a minute," Natalie groaned, falling over. She had missed a lot in a week, her body still feeling drained and exhausted.

"We don't have a minute," Klaus snapped at her. "Now, let's go." If Natalie hated anything, it was having orders barked at her. Klaus was always good at that, taking advantage that his brother's girlfriend doubled as a witch. Rolling her eyes again, Natalie waved her hand to slam the door on him, but nothing happen.

"Oh God," Natalie gasped. She tried to move the door again, but nothing happened.

"Quit fooling around Natalie," Klaus ordered.

"She's not fooling around!" Kol shouted at his brother, seeing Natalie's panic. "It's all right Nat, you've been burned out before-"

"You're telling me that the only witch that doesn't want us dead doesn't have her magic?" Klaus snapped. Without waiting for an answer, he stormed out, slamming the door.

"It's all right love," Kol kept trying to assure her, ignoring his brother's exit as she was fully panicking. "It's all right..."

**thanks for reading! :) really hope that you liked the update, please let me know what you thought! :)**


	5. Haunted

**thanks so much for the review, follows, and favorites! :) it means a lot to me!  
thanks so much for being patient as i took forever to update!  
hope you like this! :) **

_Haunted_

Natalie tried everything that evening, little things like moving a door or lifting a napkin. Kol had convinced her that it was probably because her body was weak from being passed out for so long, that she was probably starved. They stopped for a bite, able to corner a few people in the alley behind the grille. After that, he took her inside for some actual food. The real reason they were there though was to slowly test out her magic, to see if she could trip someone or knock something over.

"Ugh, nothing," Natalie complained, having just tried to knock Finn's water glass over onto his lap; he was there, across the restaurant with Sage.

"Maybe you're thinking about it too much," Kol commented, stealing a french fry off her plate.

"Maybe," she sullenly agreed, trying to knock the food out of his hand now; nothing. "Ugh," she groaned, letting her head fall against the table.

"Ok, now you're being dramatic," Kol commented, stealing more of her food since she wasn't eating it. She looked up and glared at him.

"Excuse me?" Natalie asked him.

"Sorry," Kol told her. "I thought making you mad might help bring it out." He shrugged since that hadn't worked. "My mistake." He remembered how it used to be, her magic flaring and sometimes spiraling out of control when she was angry. That was especially a problem when she had first turned, now she learned to control it a little better, though that wasn't always the case.

"Mmmm," Natalie sighed, her phone buzzing in her purse now. She pulled it and saw that it was a call from Damon. "Hello?" Kol didn't seem too happy that she answered and she figured it was his jealous streak picking up again; she ignored him for now.

_"Hey, Nat,"_ Damon said. _"Listen, there's something you should know."_

"You guys have the stakes, I'm aware," Natalie rolled her eyes, picking at her food and eventually pushing her plate away.

_"I'm trying to help you,"_ Damon said in annoyance.

"I'm listening," Natalie said back.

_"I was wrong,"_ Damon started off and Natalie's eye brows went up.

"That's a first," she commented.

_"Nat,"_ Damon warned her, letting her know she should listen. _"I shouldn't have let my Klaus plan affect you."_

"Am I dying?" Natalie asked sarcastically. "Because now I'm pretty sure you're apologizing to me." Damon rolled his eyes, though he knew it was true. He was never one to say he was wrong or to apologize to people. But, then again, neither was Natalie.

_"Stefan's on his way over there,"_ Damon got to the point since she was going to keep making her comments. _"Matt called and told him Finn was there."_ He paused. _"Do you see where I'm going with this?"_ Natalie still didn't answer as she was now watching Finn and Sage chase Stefan out the back entrance of the grille and into the alley.

"Oh _shit_," Natalie said to herself. "Thanks Damon, bye!" She got up to run after them, but Kol grabbed her hand.

"What are you-" Kol started to ask, getting up now.

"Sit!" Natalie ordered in panic, afraid if he went out there too they might target him instead of Finn. Either way, he may only have a few moments left.

As Natalie said _sit_, she held up a hand and Kol fell back into his seat. That was what it took for her to get her magic back; fear. Natalie ran outside, following the path Sage and Finn had taken. She could feel herself shaking, she wondered if it was from the rush of fear or the suddenly returned magic.

Outside, Sage had Stefan pinned down, yelling for Finn to grab the stake. Out of no where, Elena and Matt came out of the shadows in the alley, shooting an arrow into Finn's chest. Finn stumbled, dropping the stake which Matt immediately grabbed for. Kol ran outside in just enough time to see Natalie setting fire to the stake, causing Matt to drop it onto the ground.

"Natalie," Kol was saying, getting her to look at him. She felt it on her skin, the warmth of blood trickling as her nose was bleeding. She was quick to wipe it away before Kol noticed. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," she smiled at him. No need for him to know what she was afraid was happening, that holding onto the Bennetts' magic was overwhelming her. "It worked." The stake had quickly burned to ashes on the pavement. Elena had run inside with Matt to treat his burned hand, Stefan disappearing before anyone could catch up with him.

"Is she all right?" Sage asked as she and Finn came down the steps now, grateful that Natalie had been able to protect them.

"Fine," Natalie repeated. "We should go, get you guys unlinked."

* * *

The four of them went back to the house, where the other three original siblings were already waiting for them. Pleased that she had her magic back, Klaus provided Natalie with the vials of blood belonging to all the original siblings, for her to use when she unlinked them. Sending them away for privacy, she set out to perform the spell. Not long after she finished did she feel light headed, dizzy like she would when she was just a witch and she used too much magic. Even as a vampire, the magic of three witches was too much for her. With her powers manifesting again, it was starting to take a toll, even if she wasn't using that much magic at all.

"Is it finished then?" Klaus asked as Natalie came back out.

"Mhmm," Natalie nodded quickly, leaning against a nearby table for balance as she was still unsteady. She had played it off, but Kol could tell something was wrong.

"Well, Elijah's gone," Klaus observed. "Sage and Finn have run off to pack." He pointed between Kol and Natalie. "I'll assume you two are leaving as well?"

"Just for awhile," Kol answered. He and Natalie had discussed it. Since he was back now, he wanted to see everything, to experience what was new in the world. Natalie was happy to teach him about everything he had missed since he had been locked away.

_Perhaps we'll be back sooner than we think_, Kol thought silently to himself as he watched Natalie hesitantly.

* * *

There was so much for Natalie to teach Kol, she wasn't sure where to start. Hitting the road to travel with him, she decided teaching him to drive first would be the best idea, though that nearly ended up being a disaster. Eventually though, he got the hang of it, taking turns with her driving, heading west. Along the way, they made many stops. There were so many things that Natalie took as being a part of everyday life, things that Kol didn't understand yet.

They went to the movies, watched tv in their hotel room when they stopped for the night. She took him out to eat, trying all the foods that he had never had before. One night, Natalie convinced him to go dancing with her. At first, embarrassed and not sure what he was doing, Kol just settled on watching Natalie. Eventually though, he went out to join her.

While they were traveling these few weeks though, Kol did notice the change in Natalie. She thought she was hiding her nosebleeds from him, but he could see her wiping the blood away. Sometimes, they would come on without her even using magic. Her dizzy spells became much more frequent, and she blamed it on just being hungry, as if she was human with low blood sugar. Though he didn't like it, Kol let her go on with this act until she was ready to tell him whatever was that matter with her. That night, they stopped somewhere in Nevada for the night, planning on getting to California the next day. Some time in the middle of the night though, Natalie was awakened by her cell phone.

"What?" she complained into the phone, answering it only this way because she had seen that it was Damon calling her.

_"You remember Rose, right?"_ Damon asked her, hoping she knew who Rose was because Klaus had been chasing her for so long.

"Um, kinda," Natalie rubbed her eyes, letting them adjust to the dark. "Why?"

_"You don't happen to know who turned her,"_ Damon started to ask. _"Do you?"_

"Yes Damon, because I'm a walking book of sires," Natalie said sarcastically.

"Who's on the phone?" she heard Kol grumbling. As he woke up though, Kol could hear who's voice it was.

_"This is really important-"_ Damon started to say but was cut off when the phone was snatched from Natalie's hand.

"Damon," Kol said into the phone. Even in the dark, Natalie could just tell by the tone in his voice that the jealous streak was starting up. "It's late, leave us alone." With that, he hung up the phone before throwing it across the room with a crack.

"Cute," Natalie said sarcastically, laying back to sleep. She could accept the jealous streak when Kol got mad, seeing other guys flirting with her or something. It had happened a few times when they went out drinking, if Natalie went up to the bar alone; the guys usually left with something broken. But it was Damon and she could not have the he's-just-my-friend speech again.

"Why is he calling you in the middle of the night?" Kol asked, sitting up now.

"For sex," Natalie told him impatiently. "Now, go to sleep." Kol reached over her though, turning on the bedside light. "Oh my God, Kol, seriously," Natalie complained, sitting up now. "It's not even worth..." She trailed off as she looked over to his side, not seeing him, but her sister Alexandra. Natalie let out a blood curdling scream, falling back wards out of bed. Kol had no idea what was going on.

"What is going on with you?" Kol asked her, getting out of bed now. All Natalie saw though was her sister getting up, demanding to know what she had done.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Natalie screamed, scrambling to her feet and tripping over herself before running into the bathroom, foolishly locking the door as if that could keep her ghost sister away.

"Natalie," Kol said in concern, going over to the door. He would have just tore the door off it's hinges, but he was afraid that he would frighten her even more. "What's going on darling?" All she heard was her sister calling her Natalia, shaming her for her behavior.

"I'm sorry Alex," Natalie was crying, pressing her body against the door to keep it from opening.

"Alex?" Kol asked out loud. It dawned on him that Alex was Natalie's older sister, Alexandra, the one who had preserved Natalie's powers; he hadn't heard that name in a really long time. "It's just me and you Nat, I promise." He realized that she must be hallucinating. Alex was screaming at her now for taking Bonnie and Abby's magic.

"I didn't want to!" Natalie argued. "But I had to!" She was sobbing. "I didn't want them to die." Kol couldn't wait outside the bathroom anymore.

"Natalie, sweetheart," Kol said, pulling off the door handle, pushing the door open. Natalie scrambled into a corner, curling up into a ball and hiding her face.

"Please, leave me alone Alex," Natalie was crying.

"It's just me," Kol promised, kneeling next to her. He took her hands gently, pulling her arms away from her body. Natalie resisted at first, but as the hallucination started to fade away, she realized that it was only Kol in the room with her.

"Where did she go?" Natalie asked, looking around in panic. Alexandra was there to punish her, she knew it.

"She was never here," Kol said gently, looking her over.

"No," Natalie shook her head in disbelief. "No, I saw her. She...she was here..." She kept looking around as she said this.

"Ok," Kol said, starting to humor her a little. "What did she want?"

"She was angry," Natalie explained. "She didn't think it was right, what I did to the Bennetts."

"You need to give it back then," Kol told her and Natalie looked at him in confusion.

"If I do, they'll go back to trying to find a way to kill you," Natalie reasoned. "Not to mention, your mother will have access to their magic and their ancestors'."

"Look at you, Natalie," Kol said, snapping a little more than he meant to. Here she was though, curled up in the corner of the bathroom, hysterical because she had seen a hallucination of her dead sister. She had been getting crazy migraines and nose bleeds as well as dizzy spells for weeks. All that power was too much for her, slowly consuming her body and now her mind.

"I'm taking you home," Kol told her, helping her to her feet. "Tonight."

* * *

Packing their things, Kol set off to take her home, knowing the drive back to Virginia would take several days. Natalie promptly fell asleep in the back seat, passing out for hours. She would wake up from time to time, having nightmares about either her sister or one of the Bennett ancestors coming after her, but Kol assured her everything was all right and that it would be better soon, as soon as she got rid of the extra magic.

"Hello?" Kol answered his phone late the next afternoon, some where just past the Colorado and Kansas border.

_"How's my favorite little brother?"_ Klaus smirked.

"Well, considering I'm your only little brother," Kol rolled his eyes. "The only brother answering your calls, I'm guessing?"

_"I'm just calling to see where you are,"_ Klaus said in fake offense, acting as if he cared. Kol looked at the nearest sign on the highway.

"Some where in Kansas," Kol shrugged. "On our way back, Natalie-"

_"That's all very well,"_ Klaus interrupted. _"I actually have a job for you two."_ He nodded his head sideways in contemplation. _"Well, more of a job for you actually, since I'm sure you'd love to pick a fight with Damon Salvatore."_

"I don't think I'm following you," Kol said in confusion, checking to make sure Natalie was asleep so she hadn't heard. It wasn't like his brother was lying, he would love to get Damon back for breaking his neck at the party. And, at this point, there was part of him that was convinced that something happened with him and Natalie, that there was no way Damon was just friends with his girl; he hated the thought.

_"Damon's witch friend has been doing some research,"_ Klaus explained. _"Though, I guess that's all she can do now,"_ he joked.

"That's what I wanted to tell you," Kol tried to explain.

_"One thing at a time,"_ Klaus interrupted. _"She discovered something in mother's books, that if you kill an original all the vampires turned from their blood die too. Katherine turned them, Rose turned Katherine, Mary turned Rose."_

"You turned Mary," Kol rolled his eyes. "I hardly see the point. If they know you turned their line, they won't kill you."

_"They'll just go after the rest of you,"_ Klaus pointed out. _"Though, I assume you're safe, since you turned Natalie."_ He shook his head. _"Just get to Mary before Damon gets there."_ Kol glanced back at Natalie again, things seeming pretty peaceful.

"Fine," Kol agreed. "Where does Mary live now?"

* * *

"What are we doing here again?" Natalie asked sleepily as Kol walked with her to their motel room.

"There's a vampire here, willing to help my mother in trying to kill us," Kol said vaguely, opening the door for her.

"Mmmm," Natalie sighed, walking in and collapsing backward onto the bed. "And...why can't I help again?"

"Because, you don't need to be using any magic right now," Kol told her simply, leaning over her to kiss her once. He smirked down at her. "Let me handle it."

"Fine," Natalie rolled her eyes, but smiled up at him. "Come back soon."

"I'll be gone an hour, max," Kol told her, kissing her once again. Still holding himself over her, he looked her over in concern. "Are you sure you're all right darling?"

"Just worn out," Natalie assured him with a small smile. "Go, take care of business." Kol laughed at her, giving her one last kiss.

"Be back soon," he promised, leaving her in the motel room now.

* * *

It wasn't hard for Kol to find Mary's home or to compel her to see if she had spoken with Damon yet about who had turned her; she hadn't. Kol could have just left it there, told her to forget who turned her and let Damon run around in circles talking to her. But, that wasn't the Original's style, staking Mary in her home before waiting for Damon to show up at the house; it didn't take long.

"How do you know her again?" Elena was asking Damon as they were walking through the house. Kol remembered instructions from his brother regarding the doppelganger, that if she showed up with Damon that she was supposed to be left out of it.

"Vampire community is a small world," Damon said, being vague.

"So, you slept with her?" Elena mused.

"Eh," Damon shrugged, as if to say he couldn't help himself; Elena just rolled her eyes as she followed him into the dark room, finding Mary's body then. "Oh, come on," Damon complained as this was their only lead. Knowing who turned Mary would potentially allow them to kill Klaus.

"Quite a shame," Kol said, turning on the light, causing Damon and Elena to turn.

"You?" Damon asked now; Kol just shrugged. "You know Natalie wanted your brother dead at one point too," he pointed out.

"Wanted being the key word," Kol informed him, though he was still sure Natalie detested his brother; they were a family though, and Kol took the opportunity to point out to Damon that Natalie was on their team now, not his. "That," Kol nodded at Mary. "Was for breaking my neck at the party."

"You're not over that?" Damon said in annoyance, as if it was sad. Not really listening to Damon, Kol grabbed a nearby bat that he had found in Mary's house, the girl never able to get rid of anything. Before Damon even knew what was happening, Kol picked up the bat and swiftly struck Damon in the side, knocking him to the ground. Damon tried to get up, but Kol smashed the bat into his back, knocking him to the ground.

"That," Kol told him now, setting the bat to the side. "Is for having a thing for my girl."

"Are you joking?" Damon grimaced, trying to get up again, but Kol grabbed the bat again and knocked him over once more.

"I'd drop it if I were you," Kol told him, before abandoning the house all together.

* * *

Kol drove back to the motel, content with himself and the damage he had caused. He would be lying if he said he hadn't enjoyed it, that he had been waiting for something like this to come along, not that he didn't like the last few weeks of quiet with Natalie. This was always something he and his brother Klaus had done though, since they had turned. Sometimes, they just itched for confrontation.

Parking in the lot, pleased with his improving skills behind the wheel now, Kol got out of the car and headed back to the motel room. Walking up the outdoor stairs, he walked back to room twenty one, ready to spend the night with Natalie before hitting the road early and getting back to Mystic Falls. Walking past the line of doors, he heard a scream coming from room twenty one.

"AHHHH!" Natalie was screaming.

"Natalie!" Kol shouted, going and kicking the door in.

**thanks for reading! :) really hope you liked it, would love to hear your feedback please! :) more soon!**


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